Speculation: Player Discussion: Will Smith

[BaileyMacTavish]

Smith's start to his career is reminiscent of Dylan Strome's, who even after a decade after being draft is still improving and looks like he is on pace for a career year.

Smith will figure it out, but there was really no reason for him to leave BC so soon. Even scouts that really liked him before the draft thought he needed at least 2-3 years in college.

Hopefully Grier/Hasso/Becher rushing him doesn't negatively impact his Sharks career like Strome's was for the Coyotes.

Knowing our luck. Probably.

 

[LilLeeroy]

Knowing our luck. Probably.

I mean it's less luck and more that the morons who let Doug Wilson have carte blanche and didn't think this team needed a rebuild are still in charge.

 

[sampler]

I feel like a broken record, but since about halfway through the preseason, I've said exactly the same thing and what I expected to happen has happened identically:

Will Smith is not NHL ready. Period. He's 19, and he's just not ready. Does that mean he sucks? NO! Does that mean he is a bust? NO! He's. Just. Not. Ready.

And game after game of getting slaughtered in every facet at the NHL level is not going to help him short or long term. Players thrown to the wolves before they are ready is NOT good for them. That's why some 80-90% of current NHLers, including the vast majority of star players, began their pro career in the AHL (or in pro leagues abroad). Very few, (not none but very few) can jump from College or Jrs straight to the NHL, and even fewer after just their freshman season. Celly could. Smith can't. Furthermore, the longer he struggles, the more four bad things happen: 1. his confidence tanks. 2. his injury risk rises. 3 the team as a whole is hurt. 4. More NHL ready prospects (cardwell being one) do not get to play.

He needs to be sent to the AHL ASAP. It needs to be couched not as a demotion or a failure, but as a simple developmental step taken by nearly everyone. Then, he needs to be given 18-20 mins a night in the Cuda, given specific skills to work on (faceoffs, energy level and intensity, getting harder on his skates and physically stronger on the puck, and pure speed to name a few), and then when he shows improvement in those areas while lighting it up and building confidence, he will come back in the latter half of the year far more ready to succeed and contribute.

 

[coooldude]

I feel like a broken record, but since about halfway through the preseason, I've said exactly the same thing and what I expected to happen has happened identically:

Will Smith is not NHL ready. Period. He's 19, and he's just not ready. Does that mean he sucks? NO! Does that mean he is a bust? NO! He's. Just. Not. Ready.

And game after game of getting slaughtered in every facet at the NHL level is not going to help him short or long term. Players thrown to the wolves before they are ready is NOT good for them. That's why some 80-90% of current NHLers, including the vast majority of star players, began their pro career in the AHL (or in pro leagues abroad). Very few, (not none but very few) can jump from College or Jrs straight to the NHL, and even fewer after just their freshman season. Celly could. Smith can't. Furthermore, the longer he struggles, the more four bad things happen: 1. his confidence tanks. 2. his injury risk rises. 3 the team as a whole is hurt. 4. More NHL ready prospects (cardwell being one) do not get to play.

He needs to be sent to the AHL ASAP. It needs to be couched not as a demotion or a failure, but as a simple developmental step taken by nearly everyone. Then, he needs to be given 18-20 mins a night in the Cuda, given specific skills to work on (faceoffs, energy level and intensity, getting harder on his skates and physically stronger on the puck, and pure speed to name a few), and then when he shows improvement in those areas while lighting it up and building confidence, he will come back in the latter half of the year far more ready to succeed and contribute.

Do you want me to put this on sampler letterhead so you can send the letter to Grier directly?

 

[Alaskanice]

Do you want me to put this on sampler letterhead so you can send the letter to Grier directly?

If it even arrived on Griers desk, he’d wipe the floor with it.

 

[LilLeeroy]

Just looking for precedence of forwards picked top 5 spending significant amounts of time (more than 10 games played) in the AHL over the past decade.

The list is Dylan Strome, Jesse Puljujarvi, Barrett Hayton, Alex Turcotte, Quinton Byfield, and Shane Wright.

Obviously still way too early to tell with guys like Shane Wright and Byfield, but it doesn't look like going to the AHL is this magic development confidence booster that many people think it is.

 

[Star Platinum]

He needs minutes with good players. Warz is trying to win games so he's not going to do that. Smith is going to have to force the issue if that's going to change

I mean, I get why a 2 game winning streak was really good for the team right now. They were just getting blown off the ice in the first period night after night, so I don't object in the slightest to them having an opportunity to feel better about themselves. But I still feel that developing Smith is more important than winning games and playing him with Goodrow and Kunin is not developing Smith.

I do think though that Granlund has earned the right to be 1C through his good play if Celebrini returns any time soon, but who knows when that will be.

 

[OrrNumber4]

Just looking for precedence of forwards picked top 5 spending significant amounts of time (more than 10 games played) in the AHL over the past decade.

The list is Dylan Strome, Jesse Puljujarvi, Barrett Hayton, Alex Turcotte, Quinton Byfield, and Shane Wright.

Obviously still way too early to tell with guys like Shane Wright and Byfield, but it doesn't look like going to the AHL is this magic development confidence booster that many people think it is.

What you've done is generated a list of top-5 picks who weren't good enough to make the NHL immediately, hence they had to go to the AHL.

 

[LilLeeroy]

What you've done is generated a list of top-5 picks who weren't good enough to make the NHL immediately, hence they had to go to the AHL.

And it didn't magically make them better players

 

[coooldude]

So today shows why you keep him in the NHL. there are only a handful of players who could score one of those goals on roster (Zetts, Granlund, Ek, maybe Gush, Toffoli, Smith..... Macklin) ... And the list is shorter for players who you would reasonably expect to score twice in a game with those snipes (probably drop Gush and Toff).

Yeah, he still has a lot to work on, but there's the flash. With a little puck luck he could be sitting on 4-5 points and a completely different narrative. He also looked much faster tonight. Others have said and I thought last year as well, that he may just be lifting so much to try to put on weight that he drags in some games.

Still expect a lot of growing pains... Second goal he was given way too much time, and he still made some mistakes in transition and OZ possession... But really glad for him (and these angsty boards) that he flashed today.

Side note... Nice pass, Kunin.

 

[weastern bias]

Not one person, living or dead, has ever been as good at any single thing as Will Smith is at hockey

FINALLY I SEE REASON

 

[BaileyMacTavish]

Smitty!! I am sorry for ever doubting you

 

[Munnyro]

Winning means everyone wins. Glad Jiggy was able to get some relief. He was so different after that first goal.

 

[Jargon]

Just finished watching the game, he was, yeah, visibly noticeable after that 1st goal, you could see him ungrip his stick. Hopefully, this is a big boost for him.

 

[Shark Finn]

Dude finally scores and can't even put up a hat trick for the fans? C'mon.

 

[Beethovens 10th]

Will Smith, the Continental with the deuce.
“I put the… pa-uh-K, in the NEH-et.”

I sense the start of a beautiful thing…